IT Support Needed - 7 Signs Your Business is Long Overdue

7 Signs You Need IT Support

Recent studies show that nearly three-quarters of businesses reported that they outsource IT services, with an additional 31 percent expecting to see an increase in their IT outsourcing in the future. However, if you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that you’re now in the minority. So what’s holding you back?

While IT support is indeed an investment, it’s one worth making. This is especially true when there are clear indicators that maintaining your current in-house strategy is rendering your business less effective. Having successfully worked with organizations from numerous industries over the years, we have been able to identify the critical signs that now is the time to secure IT support. Let’s review.

7 Things That Tell You That Your Business is Long Overdue for Outside IT Support

1. You’ve Been Hacked

It doesn’t matter how big or small, if any IT system has been breached then you’re in desperate need of IT support from a managed services provider (MSP) that provides security against advanced threats. The breach could have occurred within your data warehouse, a single staff member email, or your company website. It really doesn't matter, because what the event/s showed you, is that what you’ve been doing isn’t good enough to provide the security you require to mitigate a risk that could shut your business down for good. Think we’re exaggerating? Consider that 65% of businesses state that they could not remain profitable for more than three months if they lost access to their critical data. If you’ve been hacked, act now.

2. You Haven’t Been Hacked

This is scenario can be even scarier. That’s because it creates a false sense of cybersecurity during the most precarious time in corporate history. Once misguided affability sets in, you are primed for the onslaught of cybercriminals who simply haven’t got around to intruding upon your systems yet. A recently commissioned study of over 4000 businesses showed that 70 percent of respondents have not prepared for a cyber attack. This lack of preparation is born from the reactive stance taken to cybercrime - businesses simply don’t get around to dedicating the required resources until an attack has occurred. During this period of inactivity (on your end), malware/ransomeware becomes more sophisticated and malicious, and the actions required to recover accordingly becomes more intensive and expensive. Don’t let your track record thus far lull you into an erroneous sense of invulnerability.

3. You’re Not Sure if You Comply With the Right Data Privacy Laws

If you’ve been reading our blog thus far then you know we don’t shy away from the topic of data privacy compliance. As a Canadian business you not only have to keep up to date with the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) but even with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All you need in your database is the information from one single EU based customer/client/subscriber/user to fall under the guidelines of the GDPR.

The problem, is many business stakeholders are unsure about to what measure their business complies with PIPEDA and GDPR, if at all. Sure, the recent Privacy Commissioner of Canada report shows that about 38 percent of Canadian company executives have a moderate level of awareness of federal privacy laws (not that great) but do they (and you) know that recent amendments to PIPEDA are being enforced as of November 1, 2018? These amendments include (but are not exclusive to) mandatory breach reporting and record keeping.

Even without a damaging breach, failure to comply can shut down your business given the size of the financial penalties doled out to violating parties. Don’t believe it? Here is a breakdown of the current GDPR fines:

We don’t know many businesses that can sustain that kind of loss. Is yours one of them? If not, bringing in IT support from a firm that understands all data privacy laws as they apply to your business is absolutely essential.

4. Your IT Budget Does Not Align with ROI

You likely have a set budget (salaries and annual cost of hardware/software) for IT and a reactionary one to address unanticipated events (attacks, etc.). The latter can escalate your budgetary spend quickly, and together these fixed and variable costs can become so high that stakeholders begin to question the ROI. An MSP however, can provide a comprehensive assessment of your IT infrastructure and spend, along with a new annual budget that includes clear KPIs and numerous check points along the way so that your ROI becomes more clearly defined. View more on how IT support can help you keep IT projects on budget.

5. You’re Losing Ground to Competitors

Remember at the beginning of this article when we stated that well over 70 percent of businesses outsource IT services? Among that 70%+ are your direct competitors. They are using outside professionals to improve their IT systems, to find better ways to connect with customers (i.e. mobile applications, etc.), and to innovate their product/service offering. In doing so, they take a big leap forward ahead of your business which may be stuck in the rut of tradition. Eventually, even your most loyal customers will jump ship once they find that competitors are offering them a better product/service and/or in a manner than makes the overall experience (i.e. invoicing, customer support, etc.) more seamless and enjoyable.

Given that some IT providers offer industry exclusivity within certain regions, your ability to secure IT support near you may become more limited with each passing month. Don’t wait another day.

6. You’re Losing Focus on Marketing and Product/Service Innovations

Some of you have indeed been paying attention to your IT systems, devoting in-house resources to solve problems and respond to threats. However, without the requisite skills to effectively do so, you probably spinning tires without moving forward in other key areas of your business, especially those pertaining to customer acquisition. If you find that your online/offline marketing, public relations, and/or product/service innovations are taking a backseat while you struggle to keep up with IT demands, you need to secure help before the core of your business suffers any further.

7. You’re Losing Staff

It’s a “buyer’s market” when it comes to matching brands to talent in 2018-19. Employees expect companies to provide them with tools to better serve customers/clients (as per item #6 above). In addition, they expect access to modern technology so that they can grow as professionals in their respective fields. Any indication that they’re working for a firm that refuses to keep up with modern trends and they’ll seek employment elsewhere. Failure to meet human resource demands for technology can result in high turnover and an inability to staff your business with individuals who will help you innovate and drive profit. In addition, a failure to adopt modern tech will also frustrate existing in-house IT personnel, who will not be afforded the tools they need, and they too will move on to greener and more tech-savvy pastures.

By bringing in IT support that will both improve infrastructure and train staff in new systems (cloud adoption, etc.), you show them (staff) that you’re dedicated to modernizing business while investing in their own professional growth.